I've finally uploaded my BYOL lab content from Adobe MAX and all the assets are ready for download. My lab was about integrating BlazeDS and ColdFusion 9 and involved constructing an application that used BlazeDS messaging. If you would like to go through all the content simply use the link below to download everything. Here's what's included:

Aaron_West_IntegratingBlazeDSColdFusion_Slides.pdf
These are the slides from the first 10 minutes of the lab. I build slides with very minimal content, so these won't hold too much value without me talking through them.

Aaron_West_IntegratingBlazeDSColdFusion_LabHandouts.pdf
This is a 30 page walkthrough PDF that has all the content we went over during the lab. It's written so anyone can read the PDF and go through the steps to build the application using Flash Builder 4 beta and ColdFusion Builder beta without me leading the class. Pay special attention to the setup instructions on page 3 and 4.

walkthroughs
This directory has all the walkthrough code used throughout the application. Each walkthrough directory, such as wt-4 has all the code written up to but not including that specific walkthrough. There's also a final application folder that has the full application in a ready to run state. This content is referred to several times throughout the walkthrough PDF.

Bob Flynn and crew opened registration for BFlex and BFusion 2009 taking place in Bloomington, Indiana for the third straight year. For $10/day you get all you can eat ColdFusion and Flex hands-on training. Let me say that again in case you missed it. Hands. On. Training. BFlex/BFusion isn't your normal conference where a presenter gets up and shows slides and talks for 60 minutes. Each session is 90-minutes and includes hands-on instructions where you "do" instead of just listen. It's great content, great speakers and at $10/day is a downright steal.

I'll be presenting two topics this year. My BFusion talk will center around new caching strategies in ColdFusion 9. We'll go through several exercises where you'll write code using the new features in ColdFusion 9 announced at Adobe MAX in Los Angeles just last week. My BFlex session will be the same one I did as a BYOL (bring your own laptop) lab for Adobe MAX last week. We'll talk about how ColdFusion 9 and BlazeDS are now integrated and we'll build an application using Flash Builder 4 beta and ColdFusion Builder beta that makes use of messaging features built into BlazeDS.

If you are anywhere near the Bloomington area I encourage you to look seriously at this conference. It's a great opportunity to garner some first hand experience with Adobe Flex and Adobe ColdFusion.

Ben Forta is now on stage talking about how incredible yesterday was (I agree). He's asking how cool people thought the different parts of the keynote were. The Flash announcements seemed to get the most applause.

Ben is now demo-ing an iPhone application that is going to allow him to control parts of the stage/screens.

I should've posted this weeks ago, especially now that MAX attendees have probably filled up their session schedule. But, I want to quickly plug my session at MAX, Los Angeles. On Monday, October 5 and Wednesday, October 7 I will be giving a 90-minute hands-on BYOL (bring your own laptop) lab titled Integrating BlazeDS and ColdFusion.

BYOL labs are free to all MAX attendees and are a fantastic way to get your hands dirty in a 90-minute (some labs are 3 hours), instructor led course. If you sign up for my course you'll get an opportunity to work with Flash Builder 4 beta, ColdFusion Builder beta, ColdFusion 9, and BlazeDS 3. You'll build a fully functional Flex and HTML application that uses BlazeDS messaging. If you're coming to MAX and you're interested in these technologies sign-up for the lab. There are still slots available but they're going fast!

I've finally gotten around to uploading my CFUnited 2009 slides to my site so folks can download all the assets. Included in the download are PDF versions of all my slides, snippets of all the code used, a Flex Project Archive of the AIR application, and instructions on how to use the code. Just press right here to download everything in a zip file. I've also embedded my slides from SlideSix below or you can click this link to view the slides directly on SlideSix.com.

To all those who attended my presentation, thanks for being a great, captive audience. It was a lot of fun to spend an hour with you doing something I love to do, write code and teach.

Adobe has announced the public betas for ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder!! Over the last six months or so tidbits about ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder have been steadily released at conferences and via the global Adobe ColdFusion User Group tour (which is still going on).

Today, the general developer public can get their hands on both ColdFusion 9 and Adobe's new integrated development environment, ColdFusion Builder. Below is some really detailed information on new features in ColdFusion 9 as well as ColdFusion Builder. Following the product information are links you can use to download the public betas and try them out yourself!

If you're still on the fence about whether you are going to CFUnited 2009 now would be a good time to make up your mind. Early bird pricing ends today after which the 3 and 4 day package prices will go up by $100 and the Saturday only package price will go up by $50. Register now to lock in the better deal!

If for some reason you aren't sure if CFUnited is for you I recommend checking out the schedule which lists all the topics and speakers. I'd be willing to bet there are lots of ColdFusion, Flex, and AIR sessions you would enjoy.

Tomorrow morning the 615Flex group (Nashville Flex User Group) is hosting a Flex/Flash Camp with six speakers giving one hour talks. I'll be giving a presentation on integrating BlazeDS, Flex/AIR, with a little ColdFusion mixed in for fun. After giving an overview of the technology behind BlazeDS and how BlazeDS messaging works I'll dive into the construction of an application in real-time. The app will demonstrate the use of BlazeDS messaging from a browser application to remote AIR clients. Registration for the event is closed but given its a free event I'd be willing to bet we'd find a place for you if you want to come out. More info is here.

Just a quick reminder to anyone in the Tennessee, Alabama, or Kentucky area... the Nashville stop on the 2009 Adobe ColdFusion User Group tour is tomorrow. That's about 26 hours from now. So, stop what you are doing make plans to attend the event and head over to the NCFUG site to RSVP for the event. Everyone that RSVPs (and shows up of course) will be entered into the drawings for a copy of the next version of ColdFusion, a TimBuk2 laptop bag, Amazon gift cards, and more! Plus, each person that shows up will get stickers, a ColdFusion tour shirt and (yes there's more) an audio CD copy of Dave Ramsey's High Performance Achievement! Wow, how could you not come?

This is just a quick post to remind everyone of the user group tour showcasing the next release of ColdFusion. The Nashville ColdFusion User Group is proud to host this event again and we're planning on a great turn out. Greg Wilson from Adobe will be speaking on Thursday, June 18 at 7:00pm (next week!). We're going to have food/drink and a few thousand dollars worth of awesome giveaways!

So, if you love ColdFusion or you're just interested in what Adobe has created in the next version of ColdFusion, please head over to the Nashville CF User Group Web site and register for this special event. Only registered attendees will be eligible for the giveaways. I, and the rest of the user group hope to see YOU there!!

Did you know any member of an Adobe user group can get 20% off all products sold in the Adobe store? This promotion has been running for a little while and has been extended through May 31, 2009. If you are a member of a user group and want to make use of this offer simply contact your user group manager for details. Or, you can also contact me using the Contact Blog Owner link in the footer. The 20% discount will be applied to one online order and can only be used one time per member. Thanks to Adobe for making this offer available!

Several weeks ago I was talking with Liz Frederick on Twitter about an extended CFUnited call for women speakers. I had missed the original call for speakers so I made a comment about dressing up as a woman and giving a talk on integrating AIR, BlazeDS, and ColdFusion. Liz asked me to submit my topic but I didn't hold my breath it'd be chosen given how last minute it was. Needless to say I was a little surprised today when I received a DM from Liz stating my talk had been chosen.

My session, AIR Messaging: Integrating AIR, BlazeDS, and ColdFusion, might not be as entertaining without me dressed up as a woman, but I promise you'll have a stellar time if you come. You'll learn about BlazeDS and why you should consider using it in your projects. I'll demonstrate the integration of ColdFusion and BlazeDS and I'll build an application, start to finish, that utilizes the BlazeDS messaging service for real-time business communication.

On a slightly off topic note, I might bring along my sticks and hit the links. If you're into golf and you want to play while at CFUnited, hit the Contact Blog Owner link in the footer and send me a message.

Todd Sharp has put together a very short slide deck (12 slides) detailing reasons why you should attend CFUnited 2009 in Leesburg, Virginia. The deck has information about where and when the conference will take place, video of the conference venue, what valuable content you can expect, and more. If you're on the fence about attending I recommend taking 3 minutes to view Todd's slide deck.

RIAdventure 2009 has been over for a few weeks now and I'm missing the sun and relaxation already. It was great to get away from the office and shut off the phone and laptops for a full five days. I enjoyed hanging out with those that came along and I want to give HUGE props to Joshua Cyr for arranging the trip. He was like a travel guide making sure everyone knew what was going on, where we were supposed to meet to not miss the shuttle ride to the ship and as always was a joy to hang out with. I'm definitely looking forward to the possibility of a second RIAdventure in 2010 but in the meantime I have some photos to help make the weight a little more bearable.

I've blogged before about embedding fonts in Flex applications by first creating an embedded font in a Flash movie. The process is pretty simple and works well with one large caveat, your final SWF is larger based on the file size of any embedded fonts. Why is this bad? If you've embedded four of your favorite fonts and your app is one big Flash movie or Flex application your overall app size is increased to include the font resources.

Wouldn't it be better if you could load the fonts at runtime only when they're needed? Well, you can! Lee Brimelow recorded a fifteen minute tutorial showing you how to use Flash CS4 and Flex SDK metadata to create runtime loaded fonts. He walks through the entire process including selecting a font, writing the ActionScript 3 code to embed a font, restricting the font to certain glyphs, and then embedding the external font movie into a new, separate movie at runtime.

As Lee points out towards the end of the tutorial, using runtime loaded fonts should be considered a best practice if you're using Flash CS4. You can do what we've always been able to do and embed a font directly in the Flash CS4 library, but why tax your entire application this way and why include all the glyphs if you don't need them?